Lords of the Fallen Publisher CI Games Lays Off 30 More Staff in Yet Another Round of Job Cuts

Microsoft had announced in February that it would bring four of its exclusive Xbox titles to rival platforms from Sony and Nintendo. It seems the company is not stopping with its four first-party games coming to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. A new report claims that the Xbox parent intends to make a multi-platform push for more of its games. Under the plan, internally codenamed “Latitude,” more upcoming first-party Xbox titles are said to be in development for the PS5.

Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty has reportedly said Microsoft needs smaller games that will earn it «prestige and awards» a day after shutting down Tango Gameworks.

Upcoming 2D roguelite The Rogue Prince of Persia has been delayed from its May 14, 2024 release date to avoid competition with Hades 2, which was released into Steam Early Access on May 6.

Sea of Thieves debuted on PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch last month and has done rather well on Sony's console, managing to become among the most downloaded titles for the last month.

Xbox president Sarah Bond has responded to questions about Microsoft’s decision to shut a number of much-loved studios this week, insisting it was about ensuring the Xbox business remains healthy for the long-term during what she called “this moment of transition.”

Xbox president Sarah Bond has spoken more about the company’s decision to close four Bethesda studios earlier this week.

Ah, it feels like only yesterday that Microsoft shut down Tango Gameworks, creators of Hi-Fi Rush, and now here's Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, telling Microsoft staff at an internal townhall meeting that "we need smaller games that give us prestige and awards" - a sentence we might plausibly lengthen to "...like Hi-Fi Rush".

It seems Redfall was gearing up to release a big update for May 2024 before Arkane Austin was suddenly shuttered by Xbox. Redfall got off to a very rough start when it first launched last year. The game released to overwhelmingly negative reviews and was quickly abandoned. Despite this, there were still plans to release Redfall DLC characters and updates to improve the experience.

The sudden closure of several video-game studios at Microsoft's Xbox division was the result of a widespread cost-cutting initiative that still isn't finished.

Japanese game company Capcom has reported record sales and predicted even bigger returns are to come, with big hitter Monster Hunter Wilds waiting in the wings.

Arkane Austin is officially no more, and Studio Director Harvey Smith, who has worked at Arkane for over sixteen years, shared all his emotions in a long and heartfelt thread on Twitter/X. Over the course of his 30-plus-year-long career in the industry, Smith was a lead designer at Ion Storm on Deus Ex, a director on Deus Ex: Invisible War, and a designer on Thief: Deadly Shadows. After a brief stint at Midway, he joined Arkane to be a creative director, designer, and writer on the first Dishonored.

Earlier this week, Microsoft announced a number of their studios were being shuttered, including Arkane Austin (Prey, Redfall), Tango Gameworks (The Evil Within, Hi-Fi Rush), and Alpha Dog Games, while Roundhouse Studios will be absorbed into ZeniMax Online Studios to work on The Elder Scrolls Online. This follows nearly 1,900 layoffs earlier in the year, largely from Microsoft’s newly-acquired Activision Blizzard teams. Unfortunately, it seems this isn’t the end of the pain.